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Building History

This monument memorialized Warren G. Harding's last public appearances as President, leading 30,000 Boy Scouts in the Pledge of Allegiance at Woodland Park and a later speech at the University of Washington Stadium on 07/27/1923. The Boy Scouts of America held their 1923 National Jamboree in Seattle at that time, a large-scale event that enabled a huge crowd of scouts to assemble.

While in Seattle, Harding complained of abdominal pain, and a doctor was consulted. Soon after this speech, Harding made his way to San Francisco, CA, where he fell ill with pneumonia. He died of a large cerebral hemorrhage in the Presidential Suite of the Palace Hotel on 08/02/1923.

The idea of creating a memorial for Harding was begun by the local Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks chapter in Seattle, as Harding had belonged to the organization in his hometown of Marion, OH. The memorial included a bas reliefof Harding flanked by groups of Boy Scouts on either side of him. Harding's arm was bent to suggest he was administering the Pledge of Allegiance. A bronze Boy Scout was also included on a pedestal nearby to the main bas relief.

Huntington designed the archictural rostrum, while the Seattle sculptor Alice Robertson Carr (1899-1996) designed the figural elements. She received the commission because she had very recently completed a fountain design for the Rose Garden at Woodland Park and was well-known to the Seattle Parks Board. (See Fred Poyner IV, Historylink.org, "Harding Memorial in Seattle's Woodland Park is dedicated on March 29, 1925," published 12/05/2018, accessed 05/10/2023.)

The memorial was dedicated on 03/29/1925, in a ceremony patterned on the 07/29/1923 Harding event. Historian Fed Poyner IV wrote in 2018: "Present were more than 2,000 citizens including many Boy Scouts from local troops who recited the Pledge of Allegiance as part of the memorial's dedication ceremony. Leading the pledge was Theo Johnson, Exalted Ruler of the Seattle Lodge No. 92 BPOE. That was followed by Park Board President Orison J. C. Dutton (1868-1944) and his acceptance of the memorial on behalf of the City of Seattle. Bands from both the Queen Anne and Ballard Elks lodges provided music to add to the celebration." (See Fred Poyner IV, Historylink.org, "Harding Memorial in Seattle's Woodland Park is dedicated on March 29, 1925," published 12/05/2018, accessed 05/10/2023.)

Demolished in 1977 to make way for the Woodland Park Zoo African Savannah Exhibit.

PCAD id: 12687